GUEST COLUMN
Social climbing
How Eleanor Gobey sent female membership of her club soaring
I can remember the precise moment when I realised that cycling was for me. It was back when I was 11 years old and I could hear my father shouting very energetically in our lounge – like most sports fans do – so I went in to see what all the fuss was about. Little did I know at that point that what was on the television would become not just my sport, but my career and passion.
There was Nicole Cooke, storming past the Italian and Swedish riders in horrendously wet weather conditions to win gold in the women’s road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – at the time the first British woman to win gold in any cycling event, road or track.
I was instantly hooked on the sport. From that point onwards, all I wanted to do was race my bike -something I currently do with A.R.T (Abingdon Race Team). What I didn’t quite realise then was that my opportunities to do so would be so different compared to boys. I didn’t see this as a barrier, because I’d just ride with the boys.
As I went through life (and bike clubs), being the only female was a common experience, but in most cases the welcoming nature of these groups meant that it wasn’t always a concern, more an observation. I was able to keep up. But why was I often the only female cyclist in the group?
Through my many rides and conversations with women and new riders, it’s apparent that the idea of ‘keeping up’ with the men is a daunting task holding most back from getting involved. On top of this, the stereotypes around Lycra-clad, highly competitive men do little to promote participation. In 2022, it’s certainly not like this everywhere, but it’s a misconception that has not helped the sport grow.
I joined Newbury Road Club in 2018 after moving 75 miles away from home to start a new chapter in my life.
It was a pleasant surprise to find a club that offered rides for such a variety of abilities and distances, and had more women members than I’d come to expect. On my first ride, I joined the very sociable 20-mile group and met some of the nicest people – people who I still ride with to this day. I started to learn that there was more to cycling rather than Lycra and speed. Don’t get me wrong, that is an enjoyable side of this sport, and it of course makes you fitter and stronger, but it’s not the point I’m getting at here.
This club offered companionship, which I think can be lost in the mix of a cycling club. Newbury has kept cycling in its purest form, stripped of competition, for those who want it, and I believe that’s the reason why Newbury Road Club has landed such success with its membership. That said, at the time of joining, there remained a huge gap in women riders. How could we put a rocket up the membership? All it took was a dedicated group of women in the club to sit down at a pub one summer’s evening and discuss how we would boost the numbers. We had all come from similar experience and had seen what the pandemic had done to create the uptick in the sport, but our puzzling issue was how we were going to attract these women.
The answer was a women-only ride with three values that seemed to do the trick. First of all, we wanted to prove that anyone can ride a bike. It also didn’t matter what bike you had. Finally, above everything else, the rides would be about companionship and safety in numbers. These rides focus on putting the speed and distance aside in order to make a welcoming environment for any rider of any ability.
Building rides around more of the social aspects of cycling, which are plenty but can often get lost, we wanted to address the misconceptions about cyclingclub outings head on. We also offered bike mechanics masterclasses and dedicated club events to demonstrate that there is so much more to cycling than just riding your bike fast.
For Newbury Road Club, this has meant a flurry of new joiners, and even my mum has taken up cycling! For other clubs wanting to follow what we’ve done in welcoming 61 women of all abilities into the club over the past year, my advice is this: focus on fun, inclusivity and companionship and leave the egos for the race track.
Eleanor Gobey
Club rider
Eleanor, 26, rides for Newbury Road Club, races for Abingdon Race Team and is a former bike mechanic